Impact
Bold experiments.
Lasting results.
DC Ed Fund backs cutting-edge initiatives with the potential to generate systemic change. Our investments have transformed DCPS into the fastest-improving urban school district in the last decade.
Our founding
The DC Public Education Fund was founded in 2007 to help DC Public Schools address its most pressing challenges through organized philanthropy.
Pursuing excellence
Our first investment fund raised $65M to support IMPACTplus, the nation’s first performance and compensation system to attract, evaluate, and incentivize the highest performing educators.
Student experience
We expanded our efforts to address what students were learning in their classrooms. The Cornerstones initiative introduced the city’s first curriculum strategy stacked with powerful lessons and experiences, all in pursuit of closing the opportunity gap.
Expanding our vision
Since the beginning, we have raised over $200M in seed capital to launch a series of new start-up initiatives that continue to raise the bar for what’s possible in public education.
Proof of concept
Today, DCPS still holds the title of being the nation’s fastest-improving urban school district, much of it accelerated by DC Ed Fund-supported investments.
Targeted investments to achieve DCPS’ most ambitious goals.
Standing Ovation
Standing Ovation was designed as a way to honor the achievements of DCPS’ top teachers, leaders, and school communities. For more than ten years, this unique DC tradition has played a critical role in elevating the teaching profession and celebrating what’s working in urban education.
High School Redesign
In February 2022, DCPS and XQ launched “DC+XQ”, a multi-year partnership to reimagine the high school experience in the nation’s capital. This community-led initiative brings together teachers, families, students, and community members to imagine what’s possible for DCPS’ high school students.
Check it outDollars in redesign investments
High Schools currently undergoing whole-school community co-design, rethinking all aspects of the school model
Community stakeholders engaged in the redesign efforts since 2022
Equity Centered Principal Pipeline
DCPS works in partnership with Universities and Community Organizations leaders to create, design, and implement an equity-centered leadership pipeline where educators and the students they serve feel loved, challenged, and make an impact on Washington D.C. and the world at-large. We do this work through the lens of racial equity and in service of diverse leaders and students throughout our ecosystem.
This grant supports the creation of a principal pipeline through the development of supports, structures, and assistance within DCPS, equity-centered Master’s and Doctoral Courses at Howard University and George Washington University, and a partnership with OSSE.
Check it outDollars raised
DCPS doctoral and masters students starting at Howard University and George Washington University this fall
local teacher and school leader degree programs co-designed with an explicit focus on equity
DCPS Becoming
As a nation and as an urban public school system, we are emerging from an unprecedented year having fought through unprecedented experiences. DC Public Schools (DCPS) learned so much as a school community on how to reinvent teaching and learning regardless of conditions. We also witnessed the structural racism in America and the lopsided outcomes that stem from racial inequities. DCPS is at an inflection point, a moment in its history, where returning to a pre-pandemic posture is not an option. Instead, DCPS is shattering the status quo by acknowledging the journey it must take and the work that has to be done in order to be better, stronger, all in pursuit of becoming an antiracist and whole child centered organization.
Check it outSchools participating or have completed whole-child model implementation program
DCPS schools with a whole child lead
Staff who have attended and graduated from Antiracist Educator University (ARE-U) in the last two years.